History

The A's as they are known were formed in 1949 as the Brittania Football Club, named after the local public house in Headington where the players trained. They played in the Oxford City Junior League until the 1960s when they moved up to the Oxfordshire Senior League. Here they enjoyed great success, particularly in the 1970s when they won the Premier Division Championship 4 times. Headington Amateurs were accepted into the Hellenic League in 1988 when their Committee joined forces with the old Morris Motors Committee and secured agreement to play their home matches at the Old Pressed Steel ground in Romanway, Cowley. Pressed Steel were no longer running a team and Morris Motors had been withdrawn from the league in 1987 by the parent organisation due to high running costs and the sale of their Cowley Barracks Ground. One of these Morris Men was Secretary Steve Giles who had been Secretary of Morris Motors from 1984 and was previously with Pressed Steel. He has been a Club Official throughout Amateurs time in the Hellenic League. In fact all the officers of the club have been with them well over 20, and in some cases 30 years. Chairman Donald light is now in his 48th year with the club.

In their first Hellenic season they finished runners up to Almonsbury Picksons in Division 1 and gained promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt. Then in 1990 after a lot of hard work by their Committee, players and supporters they secured a 25 year lease and moved to their own ground at Barton Village Road. Former Oxford United defender Jimmy Light, who is still with the club today, was the manager for their First 6 seasons in the Hellenic League and in 1991 they attained their highest ever League position, finishing 4th in the Premier Division. They also made it into the semi-final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup, defeating Southern League Witney Town on the way before eventually losing in extra time to Oxford United. When ground grading was brought in for Premier Division clubs in the mid 1990s Headington were relegated to Division 1, as they had no Floodlights, where they have remained ever since. The late 1990s were a particularly hard period for the club as they finished bottom of Division 1 on 2 separate occasions and only avoided relegation back to the Senior League through lack of sides wanting to come up. The noughties have seen things improve with the club now an established Division 1 side. HAFC have always prided themselves on being one club and having a good Reserve Team as well and over the years they have won Hellenic League Reserve Championships 4 times, the most recent being in 2007. They also won the Reserve Cup in 1990 and were Oxfordshire Intermediate Cup Finalists in 1989. Last season they went one better & won an enthralling final against local rivals Kidlington to win the trophy for the first time in the clubs history. They were also finalists in the Chairmans Reserve Cup. Headington Amateurs are currently in protracted discussions with their Landlord, Oxford City Council, over developing the existing ground, including a new clubhouse, to enable them to not only continue to play at the current level but to be considered for Premier Division Football should they finish in a promotion position. Watch this space!